Face detection, tracking, and recognition for a visual prosthesis

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a system for detecting, tracking and recognizing human faces in a visual prosthesis. In a visual prosthesis, the input camera is always higher resolution than the electrode array providing percepts to the subject. It is advantageous to detect, track and recognize human faces. Then information can be provided to the subject by highlighting the face in the visual scene, providing auditor or vibratory notice that a human face is in the visual scene, looking up the face in a database to state the name of the person in the visual scene, otherwise communication id like providing a custom vibratory pattern corresponding to known individuals (like custom ring tones associated with caller ID) or automatically zooming in on a face to aid the subject in identifying the face.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 61/515,794, filed Aug. 5, 2011, for Face Detection Tracking and Recognition for a Visual Prosthesis, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to neural stimulation and more specifically to improved usability of a visual prosthesis by using facial detection, tracking and recognition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In 1755 LeRoy first created a visual perception through electrical stimulation. Ever since, there has been a fascination with electrically elicited visual perception. The general concept of electrical stimulation of retinal cells to produce these flashes of light or phosphenes has been known for quite some time. Based on these general principles, some early attempts at devising a prosthesis for aiding the visually impaired have included attaching electrodes to the head or eyelids of patients. While some of these early attempts met with some limited success, these early prosthetic devices were large, bulky and could not produce adequate simulated vision to truly aid the visually impaired.

In the early 1930's, Foerster investigated the effect of electrically stimulating the exposed occipital pole of one cerebral hemisphere. He found that, when a point at the extreme occipital pole was stimulated, the patient perceived a small spot of light directly in front and motionless (a phosphene). Subsequently, Brindley and Lewin (1968) thoroughly studied electrical stimulation of the human occipital (visual) cortex. By varying the stimulation parameters, these investigators described in detail the location of the phosphenes produced relative to the specific region of the occipital cortex stimulated. These experiments demonstrated: (1) the consistent shape and position of phosphenes; (2) that increased stimulation pulse duration made phosphenes brighter; and (3) that there was no detectable interaction between neighboring electrodes which were as close as 2.4 mm apart.

As intraocular surgical techniques have advanced, it has become possible to apply stimulation on small groups and even on individual retinal cells to generate focused phosphenes through devices implanted within the eye itself. This has sparked renewed interest in developing methods and apparati to aid the visually impaired. Specifically, great effort has been expended in the area of intraocular visual prosthesis devices in an effort to restore vision in cases where blindness is caused by photoreceptor degenerative retinal diseases; such as retinitis pigmentosa and age related macular degeneration which affect millions of people worldwide.

Neural tissue can be artificially stimulated and activated by prosthetic devices that pass pulses of electrical current through electrodes on such a device. The passage of current causes changes in electrical potentials across visual neuronal membranes, which can initiate visual neuron action potentials, which are the means of information transfer in the nervous system.

Based on this mechanism, it is possible to input information into the nervous system by coding the sensory information as a sequence of electrical pulses which are relayed to the nervous system via the prosthetic device. In this way, it is possible to provide artificial sensations including vision.

One typical application of neural tissue stimulation is in the rehabilitation of the blind. Some forms of blindness involve selective loss of the light sensitive transducers of the retina. Other retinal neurons remain viable, however, and may be activated in the manner described above by placement of a prosthetic electrode device on the inner (toward the vitreous) retinal surface (epiretinal). This placement must be mechanically stable, minimize the distance between the device electrodes and the visual neurons, control the electronic field distribution and avoid undue compression of the visual neurons.

In 1986, Bullara (U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,481) patented an electrode assembly for surgical implantation on a nerve. The matrix was silicone with embedded iridium electrodes. The assembly fit around a nerve to stimulate it.

Dawson and Radtke stimulated cat's retina by direct electrical stimulation of the retinal ganglion cell layer. These experimenters placed nine and then fourteen electrodes upon the inner retinal layer (i.e., primarily the ganglion cell layer) of two cats. Their experiments suggested that electrical stimulation of the retina with 30 to 100 μA current resulted in visual cortical responses. These experiments were carried out with needle-shaped electrodes that penetrated the surface of the retina (see also U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,933 to Michelson).

The Michelson '933 apparatus includes an array of photosensitive devices on its surface that are connected to a plurality of electrodes positioned on the opposite surface of the device to stimulate the retina. These electrodes are disposed to form an array similar to a “bed of nails” having conductors which impinge directly on the retina to stimulate the retinal cells. U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,049 to Byers describes spike electrodes for neural stimulation. Each spike electrode pierces neural tissue for better electrical contact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,088 to Norman describes an array of spike electrodes for cortical stimulation. Each spike pierces cortical tissue for better electrical contact.

The art of implanting an intraocular prosthetic device to electrically stimulate the retina was advanced with the introduction of retinal tacks in retinal surgery. De Juan, et al. at Duke University Eye Center inserted retinal tacks into retinas in an effort to reattach retinas that had detached from the underlying choroid, which is the source of blood supply for the outer retina and thus the photoreceptors. See, e.g., E. de Juan, et al., 99 Am. J. Ophthalmol. 272 (1985). These retinal tacks have proved to be biocompatible and remain embedded in the retina, and choroid/sclera, effectively pinning the retina against the choroid and the posterior aspects of the globe. Retinal tacks are one way to attach a retinal electrode array to the retina. U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,844 to de Juan describes a flat electrode array placed against the retina for visual stimulation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,155 to Humayun describes a retinal prosthesis for use with the flat retinal array described in de Juan.

Each person's response to neural stimulation differs. In the case of retinal stimulation, a person's response varies from one region of the retina to another. In general, the retina is more sensitive closer to the fovea. Any stimulation, less than the threshold of perception, is ineffective. Stimulation beyond a maximum level will be painful and possibly dangerous to the patient. It is therefore, important to map any video image to a range between the minimum and maximum for each individual electrode. With a simple visual prosthesis, it is possible to adjust the stimulation manually by stimulating and questioning the patient. As resolution increases, it is tedious or impossible to adjust each electrode by stimulating and eliciting a patient response.

A manual method of fitting or adjusting the stimulation levels of an auditory prosthesis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,642, Hochmair et al. Hochmair adjusts the auditory prosthesis by having a user compare a received signal with a visual representation of that signal.

A more automated system of adjusting an auditory prosthesis using middle ear reflex and evoked potentials is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,861, Faltys et al. An alternate method of adjusting an auditory prosthesis using the stapedius muscle is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,360, Carter et al. A third alternative using myogenic evoked response is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,185, Maltan.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,894, Schulman describes a network of neural stimulators and recorders implanted throughout the body communicating wirelessly with a central control unit. U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,928, Whitehurst, describes an improvement on the system described in Schulman using function electro stimulation also know as adaptive delta modulation to communicate between the implanted devices and the central control unit.

Even with all of those technical improvements, it is difficult or impossible for a subject using a visual prosthesis to detect track and recognize faces. This often causes social difficulties as the blind subject cannot look directly at the person as they interact or interpret common facial features and head movements which aid in communication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a system for detecting, tracking and recognizing human faces in a visual prosthesis system. In a visual prosthesis, the input camera is always higher resolution than the electrode array providing percepts to the subject. It is advantageous to electronically detect, track and recognize human faces at this higher resolution. This information can be provided to the subject by highlighting the face in the visual scene, providing auditory or vibratory notice that a human face is in the visual scene, looking up the face in a database to identify and annunciate the name of the person in the visual scene or otherwise communication the identity of the person like providing a custom vibratory pattern corresponding to known individuals (like custom ring tones associated with caller ID), or automatically zooming in on a face to aid the subject in identifying the face.

Additional information obtainable through electronic video processing can be a significant asset, particularly in social situations. The system can inform the subject if the other person in the visual scene is looking directly at them, to the side or away. Image processing may determine if the other person is happy or sad, stationary or moving, moving closer or farther away, nodding or shaking their head. The system can provide the visual prosthesis subject with basic facial attributes, such as gender, age or ethnicity.

These features can be provided automatically and continuously or can be user activated by a user command. As an example, blind people rely more on their hearing than sighted people. They may find a constant stream of auditory information distracting. Hence a button or gesture may be provided to activate auditory or other cues regarding face recognition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the implanted portion of the preferred visual prosthesis.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the implanted portion of the preferred visual prosthesis showing the strap fan tail in more detail.

FIG. 3 shows the components of a visual prosthesis fitting system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing facial detection.

FIG. 5 is a set of three flowcharts equating face detection response to square localization.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the process of face detection.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the process of face cueing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the process of face annunciation.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the process of facial characteristic determination.

FIG. 10a shows a LOSS OF SYNC mode.

FIG. 10b shows an exemplary block diagram of the steps taken when VPU does not receive back telemetry from the Retinal stimulation system.

FIG. 10c shows an exemplary block diagram of the steps taken when the subject is not wearing Glasses.

FIGS. 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 and 11-4 show an exemplary embodiment of a video processing unit. FIG. 11-1 should be viewed at the left of FIG. 11-2. FIG. 11-3 should be viewed at the left of FIG. 11-4. FIGS. 11-1 and 11-2 should be viewed on top of FIGS. 11-3 and 14-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing the general principles of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.

An aspect of the invention is method of aiding a visual prosthesis subject including detecting a face in the subject's visual scene; and providing cues to the subject regarding a detected face. The cue may include sound, vibration, stating a name associated with the detected face, highlighting the detected face, zooming in on the detected face, or tactile feedback. The method may further include looking up the detected face in a look up table to provide a name associated with the detected face. The cue may further include an indication of if the face is looking toward the subject, to the side or looking away. A further aspect of the invention is including information about a facial characteristic in the cue. Facial characteristics may include gender, size, distance, head movement, or other body motion. All of these characteristics are controllable by the subject through controls on the video processing unit worn on the body.

FIGS. 1 and 2 present the general structure of a visual prosthesis used in implementing the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the implanted portion of the preferred visual prosthesis. A flexible circuit 1 includes a flexible circuit electrode array 10 which is mounted by a retinal tack (not shown) or similar means to the epiretinal surface. The flexible circuit electrode array 10 is electrically coupled by a flexible circuit cable 12, which pierces the sclera and is electrically coupled to an electronics package 14, external to the sclera.

The electronics package 14 is electrically coupled to a secondary inductive coil 16. Preferably the secondary inductive coil 16 is made from wound wire. Alternatively, the secondary inductive coil 16 may be made from a flexible circuit polymer sandwich with wire traces deposited between layers of flexible circuit polymer. The secondary inductive coil receives power and data from a primary inductive coil 17, which is external to the body. The electronics package 14 and secondary inductive coil 16 are held together by the molded body 18. The molded body 18 holds the electronics package 14 and secondary inductive coil 16 end to end. The secondary inductive coil 16 is placed around the electronics package 14 in the molded body 18. The molded body 18 holds the secondary inductive coil 16 and electronics package 14 in the end to end orientation and minimizes the thickness or height above the sclera of the entire device. The molded body 18 may also include suture tabs 20. The molded body 18 narrows to form a strap 22 which surrounds the sclera and holds the molded body 18, secondary inductive coil 16, and electronics package 14 in place. The molded body 18, suture tabs 20 and strap 22 are preferably an integrated unit made of silicone elastomer. Silicone elastomer can be formed in a pre-curved shape to match the curvature of a typical sclera. However, silicone remains flexible enough to accommodate implantation and to adapt to variations in the curvature of an individual sclera. The secondary inductive coil 16 and molded body 18 are preferably oval shaped. A strap 22 can better support an oval shaped coil. It should be noted that the entire implant is attached to and supported by the sclera. An eye moves constantly. The eye moves to scan a scene and also has a jitter motion to improve acuity. Even though such motion is useless in the blind, it often continues long after a person has lost their sight. By placing the device under the rectus muscles with the electronics package in an area of fatty tissue between the rectus muscles, eye motion does not cause any flexing which might fatigue, and eventually damage, the device.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the implanted portion of the visual prosthesis, in particular, emphasizing the fan tail 24. When implanting the visual prosthesis, it is necessary to pass the strap 22 under the eye muscles to surround the sclera. The secondary inductive coil 16 and molded body 18 must also follow the strap 22 under the lateral rectus muscle on the side of the sclera. The implanted portion of the visual prosthesis is very delicate. It is easy to tear the molded body 18 or break wires in the secondary inductive coil 16. In order to allow the molded body 18 to slide smoothly under the lateral rectus muscle, the molded body 18 is shaped in the form of a fan tail 24 on the end opposite the electronics package 14. The strap 22 further includes a hook 28 the aids the surgeon in passing the strap under the rectus muscles.

Referring to FIG. 3, a Fitting System (FS) may be used to configure and optimize the visual prosthesis (3) of the Retinal Stimulation System (1).

The Fitting System may comprise custom software with a graphical user interface (GUI) running on a dedicated laptop computer (10). Within the Fitting System are modules for performing diagnostic checks of the implant, loading and executing video configuration files, viewing electrode voltage waveforms, and aiding in conducting psychophysical experiments. A video module can be used to download a video configuration file to a Video Processing Unit (VPU) (20) and store it in non-volatile memory to control various aspects of video configuration, e.g. the spatial relationship between the video input and the electrodes. The software can also load a previously used video configuration file from the VPU (20) for adjustment.

The Fitting System can be connected to the Psychophysical Test System (PTS), located for example on a dedicated laptop (30), in order to run psychophysical experiments. In psychophysics mode, the Fitting System enables individual electrode control, permitting clinicians to construct test stimuli with control over current amplitude, pulse-width, and frequency of the stimulation. In addition, the psychophysics module allows the clinician to record subject responses. The PTS may include a collection of standard psychophysics experiments developed using for example MATLAB (MathWorks) software and other tools to allow the clinicians to develop customized psychophysics experiment scripts.

Any time stimulation is sent to the VPU (20), the stimulation parameters are checked to ensure that maximum charge per phase limits, charge balance, and power limitations are met before the test stimuli are sent to the VPU (20) to make certain that stimulation is safe.

Using the psychophysics module, important perceptual parameters such as perceptual threshold, maximum comfort level, and spatial location of percepts may be reliably measured.

Based on these perceptual parameters, the fitting software enables custom configuration of the transformation between video image and spatio-temporal electrode stimulation parameters in an effort to optimize the effectiveness of the visual prosthesis for each subject.

The Fitting System laptop (10) is connected to the VPU (20) using an optically isolated serial connection adapter (40). Because it is optically isolated, the serial connection adapter (40) assures that no electric leakage current can flow from the Fitting System laptop (10).

As shown in FIG. 3, the following components may be used with the Fitting System according to the present disclosure. A Video Processing Unit (VPU) (20) for the subject being tested, a Charged Battery (25) for VPU (20), Glasses (5), a Fitting System (FS) Laptop (10), a Psychophysical Test System (PTS) Laptop (30), a PTS CD (not shown), a Communication Adapter (CA) (40), a USB Drive (Security) (not shown), a USB Drive (Transfer) (not shown), a USB Drive (Video Settings) (not shown), a Patient Input Device (RF Tablet) (50), a further Patient Input Device (Jog Dial) (55), Glasses Cable (15), CA-VPU Cable (70), CFS-CA Cable (45), CFS-PTS Cable (46), Four (4) Port USB Hub (47), Mouse (60), LED Test Array (80), Archival USB Drive (49), an Isolation Transformer (not shown), adapter cables (not shown), and an External Monitor (not shown).

The external components of the Fitting System according to the present disclosure may be configured as follows. The battery (25) is connected with the VPU (20). The PTS Laptop (30) is connected to FS Laptop (10) using the CFS-PTS Cable (46). The PTS Laptop (30) and FS Laptop (10) are plugged into the Isolation Transformer (not shown) using the Adapter Cables (not shown). The Isolation Transformer is plugged into the wall outlet. The four (4) Port USB Hub (47) is connected to the FS laptop (10) at the USB port. The mouse (60) and the two Patient Input Devices (50) and (55) are connected to four (4) Port USB Hubs (47). The FS laptop (10) is connected to the Communication Adapter (CA) (40) using the CFS-CA Cable (45). The CA (40) is connected to the VPU (20) using the CA-VPU Cable (70). The Glasses (5) are connected to the VPU (20) using the Glasses Cable (15).

The present invention is a system for detecting, tracking and recognizing human faces in a visual prosthesis. In a visual prosthesis, the input camera is always higher resolution than the electrode array providing percepts to the subject. It is advantageous to detect, track and recognize human faces. Then information can be provided to the subject by highlighting the face in the visual scene, providing auditor or vibratory notice that a human face is in the visual scene, looking up the face in a database to state the name of the person in the visual scene, or automatically zooming in on a face to aid the subject in identify the face.

Referring to FIG. 4, simple face tracking can be a significant benefit a blind person. The presence of multiple faces may be also relayed. The process flow of basic face detection and tracking is provided. The video processor records a visual scene 102, show here with two children's faces. The video processor draws a square around a detected face 104. The video processor draws squares around both face units and draws a smaller square around the identifiable portions of the two faces for recognition processing 106. Even with a very low resolution electrode array, it is possible for a subject to locate the faces 108, to improve interaction with the other people.

Referring to FIG. 5, square localization is a common task preformed by visual prosthesis patients. See US Patent Application 2010/0249878, for Visual Prosthesis Fitting Training and Assessment System and Method, filed Mar. 26, 2010 which is incorporated herein by reference. Providing a square over a detected face, simplifies the face tracking to the level a square localization. In the first example 110, the face is indentified at an angle. It may be adventurous to straighten the square to improve user recognition. In the second example 112 the face is outside the visual scene so no highlight is provided. In the third example 114, the face square is simply highlighted without modification. The distance to the person, distance direction and velocity may also be relayed to the patent.

Referring to FIG. 6, the process of face detection begins by scanning the input image from the camera for a pattern of face 202. There are many well known processes for indentifying faces in an image. If a face is detected, it is compared to a database of known faces 204. If the face is unknown, the face is cued 208 as described in greater detail in FIG. 7. If the face is known, it is announced 206 as described in greater detail in reference to FIG. 8. Finally facial characteristics are determined 210. Determination of facial characteristic is described in greater detail in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 7, there are several options for cueing the presence of an unknown face which are selectable by the user. The user can change the selection by activating controls on the VPU 20. The system determines if face highlighting is selected 302, and highlights the face 304. In a low resolution visual prosthesis this can be accomplished simply replacing the face with a bright image. In a higher resolution visual prosthesis this may be accomplished by marking a square or circle around the face. Alternatively if Zoom is selected 306, the visual prosthesis zooms in on the face adding the user in indentifying the face 308. If vibration is selected 310 the visual processing unit vibrates (like a cell phone in silent mode) 312. If tone is selected 314, the speaker on the visual prosthesis emits a tone 316. Note that the cues may be used in combination such as highlight, vibrate and tone.

Referring to FIG. 8, the process of announcing a known face begins by determining if the known face has a stored vibration pattern 402. If there is a stored pattern, the VPU 20 vibrates that pattern 404. It is likely that a user would only wish to have stored patterns for the most familiar people as it becomes complex to remember many patterns. The ability of the VPU 20 to generate unique patterns is nearly limitless. If there is no stored pattern, the system detects if audio is on or off 406. If audio is on, the speaker speaks the name of the known person 408.

Referring to FIG. 9, the process of determining facial characteristics is handled in priority order so the most pertinent information is handled first. First the system determines if the person is near or far 502. Mostly blind people wish to know if someone is in comfortable speaking distance. So, near or far can be a simple close enough to speak, in which case the VPU 20 speaks “near” 504, or can be an actual distance spoken by the VPU 20. The next most important determination is if the person is facing the user or facing away 506. If the person is facing the users, the VPU 20 speaks “facing you” 508. This can be expanded as in the moving part of the flowchart below including facing you, facing left, facing right, or facing away. Next the system determines if the person is moving 510. The system determine if the person is moving toward the user 512 and speaks “moving toward you” 514, is moving left 516 and speaks “moving left’ 518, is moving right 520, and speaks “moving right” 522, or is moving away 524, and speaks “moving away” 526.

Each of the cues and announcements can be discrete or combined into phrases like “Joe, far, facing you, moving toward you”.

Stand-Alone Mode

Referring to FIG. 10, in the stand-alone mode, the video camera 13, on the glasses 5, captures a video image that is sent to the VPU 20. The VPU 20 processes the image from the camera 13 and transforms it into electrical stimulation patterns that are transmitted to the external coil 17. The external coil 17 sends the electrical stimulation patterns and power via radio-frequency (RF) telemetry to the implanted retinal stimulation system. The internal coil 16 of the retinal stimulation system receives the RF commands from the external coil 17 and transmits them to the electronics package 14 that in turn delivers stimulation to the retina via the electrode array 10. Additionally, the retinal stimulation system may communicate safety and operational status back to the VPU 20 by transmitting RF telemetry from the internal coil 16 to the external coil 17. The visual prosthesis apparatus may be configured to electrically activate the retinal stimulation system only when it is powered by the VPU 20 through the external coil 17. The stand-alone mode may be used for clinical testing and/or at-home use by the subject.

Communication Mode

The communication mode may be used for diagnostic testing, psychophysical testing, patient fitting and downloading of stimulation settings to the VPU 20 before transmitting data from the VPU 20 to the retinal stimulation system as is done for example in the stand-alone mode described above. Referring to FIG. 9, in the communication mode, the VPU 20 is connected to the Fitting System laptop 21 using cables 70, 45 and the optically isolated serial connection adapter 40. In this mode, laptop 21 generated stimuli may be presented to the subject and programming parameters may be adjusted and downloaded to the VPU 20. The Psychophysical Test System (PTS) laptop 30 connected to the Fitting System laptop 21 may also be utilized to perform more sophisticated testing and analysis as fully described in the related application U.S. application Ser. No. 11/796,425, filed on Apr. 27, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In one embodiment, the functionality of the retinal stimulation system can also be tested pre-operatively and intra-operatively (i.e. before operation and during operation) by using an external coil 17, without the glasses 5, placed in close proximity to the retinal stimulation system. The coil 17 may communicate the status of the retinal stimulation system to the VPU 20 that is connected to the Fitting System laptop 21 as shown in FIG. 9.

As discussed above, the VPU 20 processes the image from the camera 13 and transforms the image into electrical stimulation patterns for the retinal stimulation system. Filters such as edge detection filters may be applied to the electrical stimulation patterns for example by the VPU 20 to generate, for example, a stimulation pattern based on filtered video data that the VPU 20 turns into stimulation data for the retinal stimulation system. The images may then be reduced in resolution using a downscaling filter. In one exemplary embodiment, the resolution of the image may be reduced to match the number of electrodes in the electrode array 10 of the retinal stimulation system. That is, if the electrode array has, for example, sixty electrodes, the image may be reduced to a sixty channel resolution. After the reduction in resolution, the image is mapped to stimulation intensity using for example a look-up table that has been derived from testing of individual subjects. Then, the VPU 20 transmits the stimulation parameters via forward telemetry to the retinal stimulation system in frames that may employ a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error detection scheme.

In one exemplary embodiment, the VPU 20 may be configured to allow the subject/patient i) to turn the visual prosthesis apparatus on and off, ii) to manually adjust settings, and iii) to provide power and data to the retinal stimulation system. Referring again to FIGS. 1 through 4, the VPU 20 may comprise a case, and button 6 including power button for turning the VPU 20 on and off, setting button, zoom buttons for controlling the camera 13, temple extensions 8 for connecting to the Glasses 5, a connector port for connecting to the laptop 21 through the connection adapter 40, indicator lights (not shown) on the VPU 20 or glasses 5 to give visual indication of operating status of the system, the rechargeable battery (not shown) for powering the VPU 20, battery latch (not shown) for locking the battery in the case, digital circuit boards (not shown), and a speaker (not shown) to provide audible alerts to indicate various operational conditions of the system. Because the VPU 20 is used and operated by a person with minimal or no vision, the buttons on the VPU 20 may be differently shaped and/or have special markings to help the user identify the functionality of the button without having to look at it.

In one embodiment, the indicator lights may indicate that the VPU 20 is going through system start-up diagnostic testing when the one or more indicator lights are blinking fast (more then once per second) and are green in color. The indicator lights may indicate that the VPU 20 is operating normally when the one or more indicator lights are blinking once per second and are green in color. The indicator lights may indicate that the retinal stimulation system has a problem that was detected by the VPU 20 at start-up diagnostic when the one or more indicator lights are blinking for example once per five second and are green in color. The indicator lights may indicate that there is a loss of communication between the retinal stimulation system and the external coil 17 due to the movement or removal of Glasses 5 while the system is operational or if the VPU 20 detects a problem with the retinal stimulation system and shuts off power to the retinal stimulation system when the one or more indicator lights are always on and are orange color. One skilled in the art would appreciate that other colors and blinking patterns can be used to give visual indication of operating status of the system without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

In one embodiment, a single short beep from the speaker (not shown) may be used to indicate that one of the buttons 6 have been pressed. A single beep followed by two more beeps from the speaker (not shown) may be used to indicate that VPU 20 is turned off. Two beeps from the speaker (not shown) may be used to indicate that VPU 20 is starting up. Three beeps from the speaker (not shown) may be used to indicate that an error has occurred and the VPU 20 is about to shut down automatically. As would be clear to one skilled in the art, different periodic beeping may also be used to indicate a low battery voltage warning, that there is a problem with the video signal, and/or there is a loss of communication between the retinal stimulation system and the external coil 17. One skilled in the art would appreciate that other sounds can be used to give audio indication of operating status of the system without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the beeps may be replaced by an actual prerecorded voice indicating operating status of the system.

In one exemplary embodiment, the VPU 20 is in constant communication with the retinal stimulation system through forward and backward telemetry. In this document, the forward telemetry refers to transmission from VPU 20 to the retinal stimulation system and the backward telemetry refers to transmissions from the Retinal stimulation system to the VPU 20. During the initial setup, the VPU 20 may transmit null frames (containing no stimulation information) until the VPU 20 synchronizes with the Retinal stimulation system via the back telemetry. In one embodiment, an audio alarm may be used to indicate whenever the synchronization has been lost.

In order to supply power and data to the Retinal stimulation system, the VPU 20 may drive the external coil 17, for example, with a 3 MHz signal. To protect the subject, the retinal stimulation system may comprise a failure detection circuit to detect direct current leakage and to notify the VPU 20 through back telemetry so that the visual prosthesis apparatus can be shut down.

The forward telemetry data (transmitted for example at 122.76 kHz) may be modulated onto the exemplary 3 MHz carrier using Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), while the back telemetry data (transmitted for example at 3.8 kHz) may be modulated using Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) with, for example, 442 kHz and 457 kHz. The theoretical bit error rates can be calculated for both the ASK and FSK scheme assuming a ratio of signal to noise (SNR). The system disclosed in the present disclosure can be reasonably expected to see bit error rates of 10-5 on forward telemetry and 10-3 on back telemetry. These errors may be caught more than 99.998% of the time by both an ASIC hardware telemetry error detection algorithm and the VPU's firmware. For the forward telemetry, this is due to the fact that a 16-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is calculated for every 1024 bits sent to the ASIC within electronics package 14 of the Retinal Stimulation System. The ASIC of the Retinal Stimulation System verifies this CRC and handles corrupt data by entering a non-stimulating ‘safe’ state and reporting that a telemetry error was detected to the VPU 20 via back telemetry. During the ‘safe’ mode, the VPU 20 may attempt to return the implant to an operating state. This recovery may be on the order of milliseconds. The back telemetry words are checked for a 16-bit header and a single parity bit. For further protection against corrupt data being misread, the back telemetry is only checked for header and parity if it is recognized as properly encoded Bi-phase Mark Encoded (BPM) data. If the VPU 20 detects invalid back telemetry data, the VPU 20 immediately changes mode to a ‘safe’ mode where the Retinal Stimulation System is reset and the VPU 20 only sends non-stimulating data frames. Back telemetry errors cannot cause the VPU 20 to do anything that would be unsafe.

The response to errors detected in data transmitted by VPU 20 may begin at the ASIC of the Retinal Stimulation System. The Retinal Stimulation System may be constantly checking the headers and CRCs of incoming data frames. If either the header or CRC check fails, the ASIC of the Retinal Stimulation System may enter a mode called LOSS OF SYNC 950, shown in FIG. 10a . In LOSS OF SYNC mode 950, the Retinal Stimulation System will no longer produce a stimulation output, even if commanded to do so by the VPU 20. This cessation of stimulation occurs after the end of the stimulation frame in which the LOSS OF SYNC mode 950 is entered, thus avoiding the possibility of unbalanced pulses not completing stimulation. If the Retinal Stimulation System remains in a LOSS OF SYNC mode 950 for 1 second or more (for example, caused by successive errors in data transmitted by VPU 20), the ASIC of the Retinal Stimulation System disconnects the power lines to the stimulation pulse drivers. This eliminates the possibility of any leakage from the power supply in a prolonged LOSS OF SYNC mode 950. From the LOSS OF SYNC mode 950, the Retinal Stimulation System will not re-enter a stimulating mode until it has been properly initialized with valid data transmitted by the VPU 20.

In addition, the VPU 20 may also take action when notified of the LOSS OF SYNC mode 950. As soon as the Retinal Stimulation System enters the LOSS OF SYNC mode 950, the Retinal Stimulation System reports this fact to the VPU 20 through back telemetry. When the VPU 20 detects that the Retinal Stimulation System is in LOSS OF SYNC mode 950, the VPU 20 may start to send ‘safe’ data frames to the Retinal Stimulation System. ‘Safe’ data is data in which no stimulation output is programmed and the power to the stimulation drivers is also programmed to be off. The VPU 20 will not send data frames to the Retinal Stimulation System with stimulation commands until the VPU 20 first receives back telemetry from the Retinal Stimulation System indicating that the Retinal Stimulation System has exited the LOSS OF SYNC mode 950. After several unsuccessful retries by the VPU 20 to take the implant out of LOSS OF SYNC mode 950, the VPU 20 will enter a Low Power Mode (described below) in which the implant is only powered for a very short time. In this time, the VPU 20 checks the status of the implant. If the implant continues to report a LOSS OF SYNC mode 950, the VPU 20 turns power off to the Retinal Stimulation System and tries again later. Since there is no possibility of the implant electronics causing damage when it is not powered, this mode is considered very safe.

Due to an unwanted electromagnetic interference (EMI) or electrostatic discharge (ESD) event the VPU 20 data, specifically the VPU firmware code, in RAM can potentially get corrupted and may cause the VPU 20 firmware to freeze. As a result, the VPU 20 firmware will stop resetting the hardware watchdog circuit, which may cause the system to reset. This will cause the watchdog timer to expire causing a system reset in, for example, less than 2.25 seconds. Upon recovering from the reset, the VPU 20 firmware logs the event and shuts itself down. VPU 20 will not allow system usage after this occurs once. This prevents the VPU 20 code from freezing for extended periods of time and hence reduces the probability of the VPU sending invalid data frames to the implant.

Supplying power to the Retinal stimulation system can be a significant portion of the VPU 20's total power consumption. When the Retinal stimulation system is not within receiving range to receive either power or data from the VPU 20, the power used by the VPU 20 is wasted.

Power delivered to the Retinal stimulation system may be dependent on the orientation of the coils 17 and 16. The power delivered to the Retinal stimulation system may be controlled, for example, via the VPU 20 every 16.6 ms. The Retinal stimulation system may report how much power it receives and the VPU 20 may adjust the power supply voltage of the RF driver to maintain a required power level on the Retinal stimulation system. Two types of power loss may occur: 1) long term (>˜1 second) and 2) short term (<˜1 second). The long term power loss may be caused, for example, by a subject removing the Glasses 5.

In one exemplary embodiment, the Low Power Mode may be implemented to save power for VPU 20. The Low Power Mode may be entered, for example, anytime the VPU 20 does not receive back telemetry from the Retinal stimulation system. Upon entry to the Low Power Mode, the VPU 20 turns off power to the Retinal stimulation system. After that, and periodically, the VPU 20 turns power back on to the Retinal stimulation system for an amount of time just long enough for the presence of the Retinal stimulation system to be recognized via its back telemetry. If the Retinal stimulation system is not immediately recognized, the controller again shuts off power to the Retinal stimulation system. In this way, the controller ‘polls’ for the passive Retinal stimulation system and a significant reduction in power used is seen when the Retinal stimulation system is too far away from its controller device. FIG. 10b depicts an exemplary block diagram 900 of the steps taken when the VPU 20 does not receive back telemetry from the Retinal stimulation system. If the VPU 20 receives back telemetry from the Retinal stimulation system (output “YES” of step 901), the Retinal stimulation system may be provided with power and data (step 906). If the VPU 20 does not receive back telemetry from the Retinal stimulation system (output “NO” of step 901), the power to the Retinal stimulation system may be turned off. After some amount of time, power to the Retinal stimulation system may be turned on again for enough time to determine if the Retinal stimulation system is again transmitting back telemetry (step 903). If the Retinal stimulation system is again transmitting back telemetry (step 904), the Retinal stimulation system is provided with power and data (step 906). If the Retinal stimulation system is not transmitting back telemetry (step 904), the power to the Retinal stimulation system may again be turned off for a predetermined amount of time (step 905) and the process may be repeated until the Retinal stimulation system is again transmitting back telemetry.

In another exemplary embodiment, the Low Power Mode may be entered whenever the subject is not wearing the Glasses 5. In one example, the Glasses 5 may contain a capacitive touch sensor (not shown) to provide the VPU 20 digital information regarding whether or not the Glasses 5 are being worn by the subject. In this example, the Low Power Mode may be entered whenever the capacitive touch sensor detects that the subject is not wearing the Glasses 5. That is, if the subject removes the Glasses 5, the VPU 20 will shut off power to the external coil 17. As soon as the Glasses 5 are put back on, the VPU 20 will resume powering the external coil 17. FIG. 10c depicts an exemplary block diagram 910 of the steps taken when the capacitive touch sensor detects that the subject is not wearing the Glasses 5. If the subject is wearing Glasses 5 (step 911), the Retinal stimulation system is provided with power and data (step 913). If the subject is not wearing Glasses 5 (step 911), the power to the Retinal stimulation system is turned off (step 912) and the process is repeated until the subject is wearing Glasses 5.

One exemplary embodiment of the VPU 20 is shown in FIG. 11. The VPU 20 may comprise: a Power Supply, a Distribution and Monitoring Circuit (PSDM) 1005, a Reset Circuit 1010, a System Main Clock (SMC) source (not shown), a Video Preprocessor Clock (VPC) source (not shown), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 1020, Video Preprocessor Data Interface 1025, a Video Preprocessor 1075, an I²C Protocol Controller 1030, a Complex Programmable Logic device (CPLD) (not shown), a Forward Telemetry Controller (FTC) 1035, a Back Telemetry Controller (BTC) 1040, Input/Output Ports 1045, Memory Devices like a Parallel Flash Memory (PFM) 1050 and a Serial Flash Memory (SFM) 1055, a Real Time Clock 1060, an RF Voltage and Current Monitoring Circuit (VIMC) (not shown), a speaker and/or a buzzer, an RF receiver 1065, and an RF transmitter 1070.

The Power Supply, Distribution and Monitoring Circuit (PSDM) 1005 may regulate a variable battery voltage to several stable voltages that apply to components of the VPU 20. The Power Supply, Distribution and Monitoring Circuit (PSDM) 1005 may also provide low battery monitoring and depleted battery system cutoff. The Reset Circuit 1010 may have reset inputs 1011 that are able to invoke system level rest. For example, the reset inputs 1011 may be from a manual push-button reset, a watchdog timer expiration, and/or firmware based shutdown. The System Main Clock (SMC) source is a clock source for DSP 1020 and CPLD. The Video Preprocessor Clock (VPC) source is a clock source for the Video Processor. The DSP 1020 may act as the central processing unit of the VPU 20. The DSP 1020 may communicate with the rest of the components of the VPU 20 through parallel and serial interfaces. The Video Processor 1075 may convert the NTSC signal from the camera 13 into a down-scaled resolution digital image format. The Video Processor 1075 may comprise a video decoder (not shown) for converting the NTSC signal into high-resolution digitized image and a video scaler (not shown) for scaling down the high-resolution digitized image from the video decoder to an intermediate digitized image resolution. The video decoder may be composed of an Analog Input Processing, Chrominance and Luminance Processing and Brightness Contrast and Saturation (BSC) Control circuits. The video scaler may be composed of Acquisition control, Pre-scaler, BSC-control, Line Buffer and Output Interface. The I²C Protocol Controller 1030 may serve as a link between the DSP 1020 and the I²C bus. The I²C Protocol Controller 1030 may be able to convert the parallel bus interface of the DSP 1020 to the I²C protocol bus or vice versa. The I²C Protocol Controller 1030 may also be connected to the Video Processor 1075 and the Real Time Clock 1060. The VPDI 1025 may contain a tri-state machine to shift video data from Video Preprocessor 1075 to the DSP 1020. The Forward Telemetry Controller (FTC) 1035 packs 1024 bits of forward telemetry data into a forward telemetry frame. The FTC 1035 retrieves the forward telemetry data from the DSP 1020 and converts the data from logic level to biphase marked data. The Back Telemetry Controller (BTC) 1040 retrieves the biphase marked data from the RF receiver 1065, decodes it, and generates the BFSR, BCLKR and BDR for the DSP 1020. The Input/Output Ports 1045 provide expanded IO functions to access the CPLD on-chip and off-chip devices. The Parallel Flash Memory (PFM) 1050 may be used to store executable code and the Serial Flash Memory (SFM) 1055 may provide Serial Port Interface (SPI) for data storage. The VIMC may be used to sample and monitor RF transmitter 1070 current and voltage in order to monitor the integrity status of the retinal stimulation system.

Accordingly, what has been shown is an improved method making a hermetic package for implantation in a body. While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, it is understood that numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. 

What we claim is:
 1. A method of aiding a visual prosthesis subject comprising: observing a visual scene with a video input device, the visual input device having a field of view; providing a video processing circuit receiving data from the video input device and generating stimulation data; detecting a face in the field of view with the video processing circuit yielding a detected face; providing a visual indication of the location of the detected face within the field of view by altering the stimulation data in the video processing circuit; and stimulating visual neurons of the subject with the stimulation data from the video processing circuit.
 2. The method of claim 1, further including an audio cue identifying the detected face.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting facial characteristic.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the characteristic is gender.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the characteristic is size.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the characteristic is distance.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the characteristic is head movement.
 8. The method of claim 3, wherein the characteristic is motion.
 9. A method of aiding a visual prosthesis subject comprising: observing a visual scene with a video input device having a field of view; providing a video processing circuit receiving data from the video input device and generating stimulation data; detecting a face in the field of view with the video processing circuit, yielding a detected face; providing a nonvisual cue regarding detected face location, facing direction, or direction of motion of the face to a subject regarding the detected face; and stimulating visual neurons of the subject with said stimulation data. 